This
Psychohistory Forum Work-In-Progress seminar will feature James William
Anderson, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
(Northwestern University, Chicago), who is also a psychohistorian/
psychobiographer. Dr. Anderson will present his paper on Donald W. Winnicott
(1896-1971) and speak about the interviews he did in researching Winnicott, with
Anna Freud, Masud Khan, and other British psychoanalysts. Dr. Anderson, the
editor of The Annual of Psychoanalysis, is enthusiastic about being able
to share his research on this English psychoanalyst best known for developing
concepts such as the true and false self, the transitional objects, the
good-enough mother, and the holding environment. Dr. Anderson wrote this
psychobiographical account for a book of papers on “the Winnicott's tradition.”
Presently, he is working on a book focused on psychoanalysts Sigmund Freud,
Helene Deutsch, D. W. Winnicott, and Heinz Kohut. For this volume he wants to
expand the Winnicott paper and is open to any and all kinds of feedback from our
seminar members. He is “interested to hear about possible further topics to
cover, areas of the paper that seem unclear or incomplete, psychological
perspectives (other than his) on Winnicott's life, and questions about the
writing of psychobiography.”

Introduction

“He just
makes theory out of his own sickness.” According to Masud Khan, that is the
dismissive claim Joan Riviere put forth at the conclusion of a public lecture by
Donald W. Winnicott.[1] Such a statement from anyone is objectionable, but
coming from Joan Riviere, who had been Winnicott’s analyst, it is unspeakable.
Yet underneath her pathologizing twist, there is an element of truth, in that
all psychological theorists rely heavily on their most personal experience in
developing their theories (Anderson, 2005). Freud no doubt had a torrid Oedipus
complex. Erik Erikson (Coles, 1970, p. 180), originator of the concept of the
identity crisis, observed, “If ever an identity crisis was central and long
drawn out in somebody’s life, it was so in mine.” Henry A. Murray, with much
better humor than Riviere, noted once, referring to theories of human
development, “They’re all autobiographies, every one of them.”[2] In examining
Winnicott’s life, my main objective is to explore the connection between his
life and work. While I make use of the published sources, I also rely heavily
on interviews I did in the 1980s with a number of people who knew him, such as
Khan and Clare Winnicott, Marion Milner, Margaret Little, and Anna Freud.

For a full draft of the
paper that will be presented, please click
HERE.

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